TY - JOUR
T1 - Review
JF - The American Biology Teacher
SP - 369
LP - 370
DO - 10.1525/abt.2011.73.6.14
VL - 73
IS - 6
AU - Batorsky, Roberta
Y1 - 2011/08/01
UR - http://abt.ucpress.edu/content/73/6/369.abstract
N2 - Short Attention Span Science Videos: Volumes 1 and 2, Sustainability, The Coral Reef Notebook. (DVD, 1.5 hours, microdocs@stanford.edu)Dan Griffin, director of G and G films, and Stanford University professor Steven Palumbi have crafted a visually exquisite, enthralling two-disc DVD set containing over thirty 2- to 4-minute films shot on location in the tropics. These short films provide examples from worldwide coral reef ecosystems of the sustainability of coral reefs, species on coral reefs, and solutions for maintaining the biodiversity and productivity that coral reefs provide. The teacher can select individual videos using menu access, loop videos for repeat viewing, or play the entire DVD."Myths can come alive," says Palumbi, crouching on the beach at Macogai Island, a former leper colony 30 miles off the coast of Fiji, cradling a 3-cm clam destined to become a giant, 200- to 300-pound solar-powered clam, a "sumo of clamdom." Worldwide, giant clams are dwindling in number because they aren't capable of repopulating on their own in their coral reef habitats; now they are getting help from clam farms. Photosynthesizing algae that live in the clams' mantles provide the power for the clams' extra growth. When they are large enough to survive on their own, the giant clams are moved from the farms to complete their life cycles and repopulate on the coral reefs.In "Bringing the Lab to the Reef," marine biology researchers build a "Gilligan's Island"-type laboratory, toting pumps, tubs, and heaters beachside in a climate-change investigation. They break off coral pieces from warm lagoons and normal-temperature waters and glue them to bolts in two different temperature-controlled water tubs, one 2° higher than the control. Two-thirds of the corals in the warmer tub die, providing evidence of the lethal effects of climate change on coral. This pop-up experiment could never …
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